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By now you have heard how the Obama Administration is delaying the implementation of the employer mandate for Obamacare until 2015. While detractors of the law claim the motive behind the delay is to stop mass chaos just before the 2014 election that will harm Democrats, defenders sight other reasons. Valarie Jarrett, senior advisor to the president said they were "listening to businesses" and the cause for the delay was “to give employers more time to comply with the new rules.”

President Obama has wrapped up his eight day tour of Africa on July 3, 2013, during which he has pledged policies aimed at improving the continent. One such pledge came about during a speech in Tanzania, when the president announced his forthcoming initiatives against the poaching and trafficking of protected African wildlife. According to a July 1, 2013 a

The late Jesse Unruh – the colorful former Speaker of the California State Assembly and supposedly nicknamed “Big Daddy” either by bombshell Raquel Welch or after Tennessee Williams’ patriarch in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (depending on which urban legend you prefer) – was famous for many things, not the least of which was his skillful wielding of power as a Democrat firebrand in California politics. But two, equally colorful quotes – each about the influence of money in politics – are particularly memorable.

We’ve made it pretty clear on this blog that Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will not be good for Americans. Its big government approach will drive up costs and lower the quality of the kind of healthcare we have become accustomed to. There is something else it will do and that is firmly insert itself into the personal lives of all Americans.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is among the federal government's least-known but most obvious examples of corporate welfare. Its populist mission – the subsidization of American exports – might appeal to a wide swath of economically unsophisticated observers, but it is nonetheless an unfair giveaway of tax dollars.

As the Illinois legislature winds up the 2013 session by creating a new $750,000 “Forever Green Illinois Program” (it's really there on pp. 8-9 of the 284-page budget bill) that would fund the “maintenance and beautification of greenery,” including grass, weeds, trees, shrubs, bushes, and plants on state or local government property, elected officials should also consider adopting a new official state song: "Forever Red; I Want to Be, Forever Red."

With the triad of scandals rocking Washington this week, you would be forgiven if you were unaware of the fact that we are heading into consideration of a five-year $940 billion Farm Bill, starting Monday.

CCAGW, along with ten other taxpayer watchdog and consumer groups, distributed a nice primer on the "Terrible Twelve" items currently contained in the behemoth that should be of serious concern:

Although some progress was made last year toward passing a new, five-year Farm Bill, taxpayers should for once be thankful that lawmakers were unable to do their jobs, as the legislation left many programs largely unreformed and opened the door for additional wasteful spending. This week, both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are scheduled to mark up draft versions of the Farm Bill. Instead of simply tinkering around the edges of the bills that were introduced during the last Congress, lawmakers should seize the opportunity to "go big" in finding savings for the Farm Bill.